RALEIGH — Business boosters have given two Richmond County legislators high ratings for their support of pro-business and free-market economic policies in the N.C. General Assembly this year.

Rep. Ken Goodman, D-Richmond, was the highest-rated House Democrat in the N.C. Free Enterprise Foundation’s recently released biennial scorecards, which follow each legislative long session. Sen. Tom McInnis, R-Richmond, shares the third-highest rating in the Senate.

The foundation doesn’t use numbered rankings since many lawmakers earned identical scores. Nine Republican House members — including Speaker Tim Moore of Cleveland County, Majority Leader Mike Hager of Rutherford County and transportation committee Chairman John Torbett of Gaston County — earned the highest score of 95 out of a possible 100.

Goodman shares the second-highest House tally of 92.5 with four other lawmakers, all Republicans.

“We need jobs in our part of the state and we need legislators who support business,” Goodman told The Robesonian newspaper in Lumberton. “If a bill will help make it easier for businesses in Robeson County, that’s what I vote for.”

McInnis was among a dozen Republican state senators to earn a score of 90 out of 100.

Rep. Garland Pierce, D-Scotland, who also represents portions of Richmond County, scored 49.2.

The lowest House score of 11.3 went to Rep. Paul Luebke, D-Durham, and Sen. Gladys A. Robinson, D-Guilford, received the lowest score in the Senate.

Members of the N.C. Main Street Democrats Legislative Caucus, a group of self-described pro-business moderate Democrats that Goodman founded and currently chairs, generally fared better than Democrats overall on the legislative scorecards. Main Street Rep. William T. Brisson, D-Bladen, received a score of 90.

The rankings are based on objective and subjective evaluations of the legislators by 400 business leaders and government affairs professionals representing a multitude of business interests across the state.

“Any legislator with an N.C. Free Enterprise Foundation Legislative Business Rating of 70 or higher from the 2015 legislative session demonstrated a consistent support of free enterprise principles, both in the votes they cast and in their general support on issues important to the overall business climate of North Carolina,” Joe Stewart, the Free Enterprise Foundation’s executive director, said in a statement. “It was clearly a strong business-oriented session with significant majorities of free enterprise proponents in both chambers, given that 80 of 120 House members and 35 of 50 Senate members received a rating in this range.”

The North Carolina Free Enterprise Foundation bills itself as a nonprofit that “provides innovative educational programs, nonpartisan political research and objective analysis to foster informed civic involvement, develop an understanding of the free enterprise economy, and strengthen North Carolina’s prosperous business environment.”

Bob Shiles of The Robesonian and Corey Friedman of the Daily Journal contributed to this story.

Goodman
https://www.yourdailyjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_Rep.-Ken-Goodman-mug_cmyk4.jpgGoodman

McInnis
https://www.yourdailyjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/web1_McInnisPRINT4.jpgMcInnis

Staff reports